


Ghosted

by orphan_account



Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Alternate Universe - Ghosts, Alternate Universe - No Pennywise (IT), Angst, Fluff, Gay, Ghost Adventures Crew, Ghost Hunters, Ghosts, M/M, Reddie, Soft Richie Tozier, Teenage Losers Club (IT), domestic reddie
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-21
Updated: 2020-01-20
Packaged: 2021-02-27 08:53:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,073
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22340614
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Richie Tozier and Stanley Uris are lifelong friends that are obsessed with the paranormal. Beverly Marsh and Eddie Kaspbrak are lifelong friends with Beverly being obsessed with the paranormal and Eddie being a science geek. The two pairs collide on their separate quests to investigate the paranormal. What happens when two boys take a liking to each other?
Relationships: Eddie Kaspbrak & Richie Tozier, Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier
Kudos: 10





	Ghosted

“For the last time Bev, ghosts aren’t real.” Eddie Kaspbrak sighed as his friend tried to convince him with all of her “proof”.

“What, I’m guessing you don’t believe in aliens either?” Beverly Marsh huffed, folding her arms over her chest. Beverly was a full on conspiracy theorist in Eddie’s eyes.

“Come on, don’t be stupid. I’m a firm believer in science; there must be some sort of other life forms in the universe.” This was just one of their recurring arguments, it didn’t faze Eddie anymore. Eddie loved his best friend to death, but sometimes he wanted to strangle the shit out of her if it would get her to shut up.

“Liberal.” Eddie heard her mumble and he finally looked up from his book, practically snapping his neck at the speed he whipped his head up.

“Now come on, don’t be cruel here.” Beverly rolled her eyes and shifted in the beanbag she was seated in.

“I wouldn’t have to be cruel if you would just listen to my reasoning for once!” Eddie sighed and motioned for her to continue. She smiled happily and sat up, rubbing her hands together. “I’m glad you have finally come to your senses, Edward.”

Eddie cringed at the use of his full name, but decided to ignore it so they could just get this conversation over with. Beverly was one of the most intelligent people Eddie knew, and she was usually very convincing. Eddie came to the conclusion that this was the only topic she couldn’t convince him to believe. He thanked the lord that her conspiracy mind didn’t believe the Earth was flat, because that would definitely add one more thing to the short list of things-Beverly-can’t-convince-him-are-true.

“Just think about it for a minute; your science brain says energy cannot be created or destroyed, right?”

“Technically, yes-” Beverly was quick to cut him short once she got the answer she wanted.

“Well then when someone dies, where does their energy go?” She raised her eyebrow, obviously proud of her point. Eddie sighed, this was something he couldn’t really explain. On one hand she did have a point, but on the other hand; Eddie wanted his science brain to be able to come up with an explanation that could shut her theory down. He refused to believe that there were some sort of paranormal phenomenon on this Earth.

“I don’t know Bev, where  _ does _ it go?” Beverly huffed. Eddie hoped she wouldn’t challenge him anymore, because he really didn’t know where that energy went. It can’t be destroyed, so what is the scientific explanation here?

“You’re the mad scientist, that’s why I’m asking you.” Eddie groaned. Of course she would back him into a corner. How the hell did he even get into this situation? Oh yeah, Bev was a psychopath when it came to stuff like this.

“There is so much shit proving that the paranormal is real, why can’t you just accept it?”

“Because I am a man of science!”

“Man? Please, you’re a five foot six 16 year old. You’re nothing close to a man.” Another thing Beverly was good at; reminding Eddie that he was short. “All I’m trying to say is that there is no definite proof  _ against _ the paranormal. In fact, you should be the one trying to convince people that science proves there is a such thing as the paranormal!”

“You’re not going to give up on this anytime soon, are you?” Eddie grumbled. What the hell was he supposed to do now? He knew Bev had a point, but he just couldn’t bring himself to accept it. Eddie concluded that he despised the idea of the paranormal because he couldn’t explain it. Eddie always had an explanation for everything, why not this? It was out of his comfort zone; Eddie doesn’t like to be out of his comfort zone.

“No, I’m really not going to give up.” Beverly was clearly proud that she irritated Eddie. Eddie huffed. He knew he wasn’t going to get out of this conversation until he did something to prove her wrong. Not to mention his pride was damaged by the fact that he had no scientific explanation when he did with pretty much everything else. He needed to think of something to get Bev off of his back, and he needed to do it fast.

After a few minutes of silence, Beverly couldn’t take it anymore and turned on the TV. Eddie decided to go back to his book for a few minutes, hoping that he could actually concentrate on it. Of course, Bev just had to turn on her favorite show;  _ Ghost Adventures. _ Eddie would technically be lying if he said he didn’t like the show.

It wasn’t really because of the ghosts and shit, but how  _ real _ they made it seam. He had to admit; if they were acting, they were doing a damn good job. He wondered what the scripts looked like, or if all the reactions were purely improv, the crew keeping all of the creepy details from the investigators.

Eddie definitely took a liking to Aaron. His complaining every time Zak ordered him to do something. Sometimes Eddie caught himself wishing he had a group of friends like that. Beverly was great, but what if he had a whole group of friends to fuck around with? He would imagine the crazy adventures they would share. Hell, Eddie would probably even enjoy ghost hunting with a group of friends like that. Eddie quickly shook the idea from his mind. He was supposed to be against the idea of ghosts, what the hell was he thinking?

Eddie groaned and Beverly looked at him. She smirked, knowing that he was having an internal conflict with himself. She knew he liked the show, so she almost turned it off just to annoy him even more.  _ Almost _ . A new episode was coming on in a few minutes and she hadn’t missed a single new episode when it premiered in two years; she wasn’t going to ruin that just to annoy Eddie.

Beverly sighed. She wondered what it would be like to have a group of friends like this. She loved Eddie more than words could ever explain, but she couldn’t help but imagine ghost hunting with a group of people like in the show. She imagined all the laughs they would share, how she would have a group of people to help her bully Eddie, making sure he never forgot just how short he really is.

Beverly laughed to herself; she knew it was a silly idea, but it made her feel complete. She knew Eddie would never agree to go ghost hunting though. No matter how many times she tried to convince him that ghosts are real, it would just go in one ear and out the other.

At least, she thought that’s how Eddie felt.

In reality he really did want to go ghost hunting, and he did listen to everything Beverly had to say about the paranormal. He was just too scared. Maybe if he could get solid proof that ghosts exist, he could become a famous scientist for solving the mystery that has gone unsolved for centuries.

Eddie realized him believing the possibility of him solving the mystery of the paranormal meant he believed there was a mystery to solve. Eddie cursed silently at himself. Maybe he would ask Beverly if she wanted to go.

“Bev?”

“Yeah Eddie?”

“Do you want to go ghost hunting?” Eddie instantly regretted asking, but he knew this would be the highlight of her life. Beverly bolted upright and Eddie could see the childlike excitement in her eyes.

“Wait for real?” She squealed. Eddie couldn’t help but share his excitement as he smiled ear to ear. He nodded and Beverly jumped up from her beanbag and tackled him.

“Wait, where will we go?” Eddie smiled; he had already thought this through.

“How about 29 Neibolt Street?” That was the spookiest house in Derry, possibly even Maine. Beverly nodded and it was settled: they were going on their own ghost adventure.

Eddie came to the conclusion that this was going to be the death of him.

\-------------------

“RICHIE! IT’S STARTING!” Stanley Uris scooped the popcorn bowl from the table and ran towards the Tozier’s living room. He had just seen on the microwave clock that it was 8:59, meaning the new episode of  _ Ghost Adventures _ was starting in less than one minute.

It happened to be the pairs favorite show, never missing watching a new episode together. Stan quickly jumped onto the couch and put his feet up on the coffee table, quickly picking up the pieces of popcorn that flew out of the bowl when he was airborne.

“TOZIER LET’S GO!” Richie suddenly appeared running down the steps, zipping up his pants.

“HOLD YOUR FUCKING HORSES STAN!” Richie missed a step and fell forwards, tumbling down the stairs. Stan couldn’t hold back the laughter and let out an empty windex bottle type laugh. Richie groaned at the bottom of the stairs and curled into a ball. 

“Can’t a guy just take a leak without falling down the stairs.”

“A normal guy can, yes.” Stan breathed. He was still laughing up a storm when the familiar voice of Zak Bagans erupted from the large TV that lied in the Tozier’s living room. Richie immediately jumped up from his spot on the floor and ran for the couch, successfully cannonballing right onto Stan.

Stan let out a grunt and pushed Richie off of him, only for Richie to cuddle into his side and steal a handful of popcorn. This was a normal Thursday night for the two best friends. Maggie and Wentworth Tozier used to get annoyed at the pair staying up so late to watch the back-to-back new episodes of  _ The Screaming Room _ and  _ Extra Pulses _ of their favorite show, but soon realized that there was no stopping them and made it part of their routine.

“Man, I love Thursday nights.” Richie sighed. Stan nodded in agreement and offered him more popcorn once he realized Richie had already devoured his handful. Richie muttered a thank you and shoved another handful in his mouth.

“What the hell, Stan? You buttered this shit right?”

“Of course I did! I’m not an animal!”

“Well it’s about as dry as your mom’s vagina.” Richie snorted at his comment. He had no idea why he always went to making sex jokes about Stan’s mom, it just happened without him even having a chance to think about it.

“Ew. Really Rich?” Stan groaned and slapped Richie’s stomach, earning a groan from the taller boy. “Next time you do it then.”

“What? Fuck your mom?”

“No! Jesus Christ.” Sometimes Stan questioned how he put up with Richie, but then he remembered that he loved the dumbass because he was actually one of the softest people on the planet. “I meant butter the popcorn.”

“Oh, right. I think you should stick to it.” Stan rolled his eyes and focused his attention on the TV. Richie grabbed the blanket that rested on the end of the couch and threw it over the two boys.

It was like this every Thursday: Stan would make the popcorn last minute and rush to get to the couch on time, Richie would take a leak in the upstairs bathroom last minute so he wouldn’t have to get up during the two hours of watching the new episodes, Richie would jump onto Stan one way or another, Richie would find a way to complain about the popcorn and Stan would usually have to deal with a sex joke about his mom, and then have Richie cuddle into him.

They wouldn’t have it any other way. Many people would think the same thing happening over and over again would get boring quickly, but the pair seemed to enjoy it more and more each time. Maybe it was because they grew so fond of each other’s company that they cherish every moment together, or maybe it was just that the whole situation was insanely comical even after all of these years.

Once the commercial break came, the boys groaned. While they respected that the show needed money in order to run and be successful, they wished they wouldn’t be placed right and the good parts.While they would argue that  _ all _ of the parts of the show were the good parts, they just seemed to place the advertisements and the really  _ really _ good parts; the parts where you were on the edge of your seat waiting for what happens next, only for the suspenseful music to stop and an annoying commercial guy to ask if they were struggling with back pain.

Richie would usually reply with “Yes, how did you know?” and Stan would chuckle at his best friend’s idiocy. Stan got up to get the two some drinks, leaving a protesting Richie alone on the couch.

“Do you want Coke, water, or Sprite.” Stan asked with his head shoved in the fridge.

“Coke, but not the drink.”

“Wipe that fucking smirk off your face Tozier.”

“You’re not even looking at me!”

“I could hear it.” Richie rolled his eyes. He was smirking, but it amazed him how well Stan knew him in order to tell whenever Richie was smirking. To be fair, he did smirk a lot. “But really, what do you want to drink?”

“Sprite sounds good.” Richie looked up to see Stan was already by him with two Sprites in his hands. Richie shook his head and smiled. He wondered why Stan even bothered to ask him these things anymore since he already knew the answer. Richie took the can of Sprite and Stan settled back into the couch, Richie immediately seizing the opportunity to cuddle back into him.

It wasn’t until the next commercial break when the two finally spoke again. It was usually Richie who broke the silence, but this time it was Stan.

“Hey Rich?”

“Yeah Stan?”

“Do you think ghosts are real?” Richie tilted his head up from Stan’s shoulder to look him in the eye. Stan looked genuinely curious to see Richie’s response, and Richie couldn’t help but wonder why after all the years of doing the same thing every time there was a new episode of their favorite show-one that investigated haunted locations- he would just now be asking that question.

“Yeah, honestly, I do.” Richie furrowed his eyebrows and lightly shoved Stan’s shoulder with his after sitting up. “What about you?”

Stan thought for a minute. “Yeah. The show makes it hard to think that there isn’t something out there, ya know? Just think about it; there’s over seven billion people living on this planet, and other people lived before that. With all the negative energy in some places, there has to be some people who are trapped here on this earth; lost souls not being able to find their way out.”

“Shit man, that was deep.” Stan nodded at Richie’s comment and sighed.

“I sound crazy, don’t I?”

“If you’re crazy for believing in the paranormal, then so is about half of the Earth’s population.”

“Probably more than half.” Stan chuckled.

“Yeah, probably.” Richie sighed. The truth was he was really fond of the paranormal. It would be his dream come true if him, Stan, and a few other people would go ghost hunting together. While he thought ghost hunting with just Stan would be the highlight of his life, he wondered what it would be like if there was a whole group of people he could joke around with.

Once the last episode of the night premiered, Richie and Stan made their way up to Richie’s room. This was just another thing that happened every Thursday night in the Tozier residence. Stan would sleep on Richie’s bed while Richie slept on the floor. Stan always told Richie that it would be fine if they both slept on the bed, but Richie always complained that the bed was too small and it would be uncomfortable.

The boys laid in silence, consumed in their own thoughts. It was Richie-big surprise-that broke the silence. “Hey Stan?”

“Yeah, Rich?” He rolled over on the bed to look down at Richie, who had his bottom lip between his teeth. His eyebrows were furrowed and he looked like he was deep in thought.

“Do you ever wonder what it would be like if we had a group of friends?” Richie never made eye contact with Stan, just stared at the ceiling. Stan sighed and folded his hands under his chin.

“Why do you ask?” Richie just shrugged, signaling Stan to just answer his question. “Well, I mean yeah. Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to have multiple people to fool around with, not just you. You’re great and all and I love what we do, but I can only handle so many of your mom jokes.”

Richie nodded. He felt the exact same way. Sometimes it scared him how Stan always seemed to be thinking the same thing he was. Maybe it was just a coincidence; maybe they were connected in some way, letting their souls and minds mend into one. “Stan?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you want to go ghost hunting?” Stan snorted and rolled back on the bed. “No, I’m serious.” Richie finally sat up and Stan mimicked his movement.

“For real?” Stan raised his left eyebrow, trying to read Richie’s mind. It was rare that Richie was serious, and he wasn’t sure if this was one of those rare times.

“Yeah, for real.” Stan shrugged. It actually intrigued him and he had similar thoughts in the past, too scared to tell Richie for fear of being judged.

“Hell fuckin yeah.” Richie put his hand to his heart and gasped.

“Did Stanley fucking Uris just swear?” Stan rolled his eyes and reached down to slap Richie’s shoulder.

“Where do you wanna go?” Stan could only think of one place near them that was guaranteed to be haunted; 29 Neibolt Street.

“I think you know where.” Richie smirked.

“29 Neibolt Street.” They exclaimed in unison. They smiled at each other and simultaneously laid back down.

“Next Friday?” Richie finally spoke up after a few moments of silence lingered in the room.

“Next Friday.” Stan agreed, smiling ear to ear.

“Hell fuckin yeah.”

“Did you just steal my fucking line?”

“Yes, yes I did.”

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> This is so messy I’m sorry I promise it’ll get better and the chapters will be longer!


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